Heterosexist Muslims Bring Shame To Their Communities

Heterosexist Muslims bring shame to themselves and their faith communities when they copy-paste verses and exegeses without an iota of tadabbur (reflection). In spouting off angrily, they completely ignore the call of the Qur'an to dialogue with best manners.

I've gone many days and nights wondering if Allah hates me for who I am ~ Muslim student

Heterosexist Muslims bring shame to themselves and their faith communities when they copy-paste verses and exegeses without an iota of tadabbur (reflection). In spouting off angrily, they completely ignore the call of the Qur'an to dialogue with best manners. Steeped in their jahiliyya (ignorance), they feel they are promoting Allah's message by maliciously equating our vulnerable LGBT Muslim youth with Lot's people. However, if Muslims are to prevent the reduction of a universal faith to a supremacist cult, they must boldly resist such spiritually stingy attempts at bullying fellow Muslims.

Verse after verse, the Qur'an calls for humanity to ponder and reflect. It not only instigates the use of reason (7:169) but also severely condemns those who fail to reason (8:22). It affirms individual responsibility by asserting that no soul bears the burden of another (35:18) and comes down heavily against mindlessly following religious leaders (9:31). Indeed, this personal freedom from a religious clerical class is a hallmark of Islam.

In contrast, "copy-paste" Muslims follow their prejudice and whims so mindlessly that they fail to recognize the immense harm they inflict on their LGBT co-religionists. In their haste to employ copy-paste tactics to insult and judge, they fail to recognize their own inflated egos in peddling Qur'anic verses at a paltry price (5:44).

"Copy-paste" Muslims continue to harp that Islam means submission and that Muslims have no choice but to follow the law on what is permissible and prohibited. Quoting verse 45:23 that admonishes those who make gods out of vain desires, they harp on following the law instead of "desires".

However, Islam is about sanctuary not mindless submission. It is about a covenant wherein Muslims find sanctuary in Allah when they place their utmost trust in Him and not fellow human beings. It is about finding peace in the unfathomable mystery than to be suppressed by a jealous cult-like petty god. As such, the law is meant to be reasonable not oppressive.

Exegesis on verse 45:23 shows that making gods out of "desires" is a form of shirk (taking partners besides Allah). These "desires" are not the legitimate human need for intimacy, affection and companionship but the deep-rooted prejudices that people manifest by copy pasting verses helter skelter.

When people become oblivious to their own deep-rooted heterosexism, they simply become slaves of their own whims and pride. Harrowingly, the Qur'an reminds us that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for an arrogant person to enter Heaven (7:40). Likewise, the Prophet admonished that "none shall enter Paradise who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride."

The bullying tactic of "copy-paste" Muslims of stifling the human need of LGBT Muslims for intimacy, affection and companionship by reducing it to mere whims and urges must be strongly resisted. In this regard, the harrowing words of the 13th century jurist Al-Qarafi on mindless obedience to legal manuals are quite pertinent.

"Their blind adherence to what is written down in the legal compendia is misguidance in the religion of Islam and utter ignorance of the ultimate objectives behind the rulings of the earlier scholars and great personages of the past whom they claim to be imitating."

The demeaning and intimidating tactic of "copy-paste" Muslims in equating our vulnerable LGBT Muslim youth to Lot's people should also be firmly resisted. The analogy between the two fails on multiple grounds. The analogy fails even when such Muslims ridiculously reduce the conduct of Lot's people to mere anal intercourse, for a single sexual act, shared by many heterosexual Muslims, does not define the totality of the lives of LGBT Muslims.

Indeed, by superimposing the context of inhospitality, coercion and disbelief onto the lives of our LGBT friends and kin, such Muslims simply show their lack of wisdom despite all their proclaimed knowledge. This cluelessness becomes manifest when they treat their favourite past scholars as without error. For instance, they put themselves in an embarrassing position when they copy-paste the exegesis of the 14th century scholar Ibn Kathir, who associated the invention of homosexuality with Lot's people.

Like other scholars, Ibn Kathir's understanding of sexuality was informed by the knowledge and social mores of his times. As such, when he portrays homosexuality as "evil" and "ignorant" because "things have been placed in improper places," it simply reflects a drastically different understanding of sexuality. Indeed, the human need for affection, intimacy and companionship cannot be reduced to a single sexual act, which is not exclusive to homosexual men.

In conclusion, heterosexist Muslims do Islam no favour by copy-pasting verses and exegetical works without much deliberation and thought. In doing so they are simply venting their own prejudice and acting on their own whims. They must stop making silly analogies of LGBT Muslims with Lot's people. Moreover, they should not only be deeply concerned with their own arrogance but also work on the deep-rooted insecurities that instigate them to oppress fellow Muslims.